Brazil Opens Junior Pan Am Games with Straight-Set Victory over Dominican Republic

ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay, August 17, 2025. – Brazil made a strong debut in men’s volleyball at the II Junior Pan American Games Asunción 2025, defeating the Dominican Republic in straight sets 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-23) at the Paraguayan Olympic Committee (COP) Arena.

In the next matches of Pool B, Brazil (1-0) will face Argentina (1-0), while the Dominican Republic (0-1) takes on Cuba (0-1).

Team captain Samuel de Morais led Brazil’s offense in the opening set, supported by Witallo de Sousa and Maicon dos Santos, while Adrián Figueroa was the main scoring weapon for the Caribbean team.

In the second set, tied at 12, Figueroa’s serving put Brazil’s reception under pressure, but Samuel responded with back-to-back aces to give his team a 15-13 lead. From there, Brazil stayed in control with key contributions from Guilherme Amorim.

The third set was tighter, reaching 20-20. Two Dominican errors and a spike by Maicon dos Santos put Brazil ahead 22-20. Although Luther Rosario closed the gap with a powerful attack, another Dominican mistake sealed Brazil’s straight-set victory.

Brazil held the edge in all categories: attacks (43-35), blocks (7-3), and service aces (8-5). Both teams committed 17 unforced errors.

Brazilians Samuel de Morais and Witallo de Sousa topped the scorings with 17 and 14 points respectively. Samuel also delivered a match-high 4 aces.Maicon dos Santos added 10 points. For the Dominican Republic, Adrián Figueroa led with 13 points, followed by Malik Britton with 10.

Brazil’s head coach Nery Pereira praised the opponents: “The Dominican team has a lot of talent. They come in as NORCECA U23 champions, and we knew it would be a tough match. Brazil was able to handle it. We dream of winning the competition, just like every team here.”

Dominican captain Luther Rosario remained optimistic: “Despite the loss, it wasn’t a bad match, but we feel we could have done more because we have the potential. We’ve worked hard and can show a higher level. We faced a tough rival. We’re focused on the upcoming matches.”